- New Apple CEO John Ternus takes over from Tim Cook
Source: The Hill
“Apple’s new CEO John Ternus takes the helm of the iconic tech giant on Tuesday, ending Tim Cook’s 15-year tenure during which the company’s value skyrocketed to $4.6 trillion thanks to the iPhone’s enormous popularity. The transition to a new CEO comes at a pivotal time for Apple. Artificial intelligence has unleashed the greatest upheaval within the industry since the late co-founder Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone in 2007. … Although he is handing over the CEO reins at Apple, Cook is widely expected to help the company maintain a good relationship with the Trump administration after he shifts to his new role as executive chairman.” (09/01/26)
https://thehill.com/policy/technology/6062715-apple-ceo-john-ternus-takes-reins-tim-cook-resigns/
- Bovino was under internal investigation by Border Patrol gang when he retired, newly released records show
Source: Seattle Times
“Former Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino retired while under internal investigation for his conduct during immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis and Chicago, records released last week by the federal government show. In early March, an internal government watchdog contacted Bovino with an ‘official Inquiry into allegations of misconduct reported to CBP,’ emails released by Customs and Border Patrol show. … In a direct message on X, Bovino told the [Chicago] Tribune Monday he was placed under investigation ‘to CAUSE me to retire.'” (09/01/26)
- Woman killed in Times Square stabbing, suspect shot dead by police
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“A 32-year-old woman has been killed and another victim is in hospital following a double stabbing in Times Square, New York late on Monday afternoon. The suspect, a woman wielding two knives, was shot by police. All three people were taken to hospital, where the female victim and the suspect were later pronounced dead, Mayor Zohran Mamdani told a news conference. The deceased victim was later identified as Erin Piacenti, a Bank of America employee. The male victim remains in a stable condition. New York Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Jessica Tisch described the attack as ‘unprovoked’ and said the stabbings took place 20 seconds apart. Citing preliminary information, Tisch said the NYPD call centre received several 911 calls at approximately 16:24 local time (21:00 BST) reporting a woman armed with two knives was stabbing people along Seventh Avenue in Times Square.” (09/01/26)
- Germany: Explosive devices damage power lines near coal plant
Source: South China Morning Post [Hong Kong]
“Improvised explosive devices were used on Tuesday to target power lines near a coal-fired power plant in Germany, with several electricity lines damaged and supply briefly interrupted, police and a grid operator said. Several makeshift bombs were found around 8am local time at the Preilack substation, which distributes power from the nearby Jaenschwalde plant that runs on lignite and also burns rubbish, a police spokeswoman said. At least one of the devices detonated but others failed to go off, she said, adding that no one was hurt and there was no major blackout in the area, about 100km (60 miles) southeast of Berlin.” (09/01/26)
- Report: “Rich Dad Poor Dad” self-help author Robert Kiyosaki is $1.2 billion in debt
Source: New York Post
“‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’ author Robert Kiyosaki — the self-help guru who has made a fortune preaching the secrets of financial success — has amassed a staggering $1.2 billion in debt tied to his sprawling real-estate investments, according to a report. The 79-year-old scribe has repeatedly touted the eye-popping figure while arguing that borrowing money to buy income-producing assets is a strategy used by the wealthy. ‘So, I’m a billion two in debt,’ he told the ‘Get Rich Education’ podcast over the summer. He added that people ‘[s]hould not do what I do, right?’ ‘But I studied it since 1974… If you’re going to learn to use debt, you’d better take some education.’ His ex-wife and business partner Kim Kiyosaki recently told Vanity Fair that the $1.2 billion figure has been widely misunderstood — and does not represent money the best-selling author personally owes.” (09/01/26)
- FL: Regime bans Flock cameras and other license plate readers from state highways
Source: NBC News
“Florida’s state transportation office on Monday revoked the ability of local police to put license plate readers on state highways, as a nationwide backlash continued to gain steam against Flock Safety and other makers of surveillance cameras. Will Watts, the chief operating officer of the Florida Department of Transportation, informed local law enforcement agencies in a one-page memo that the department was revoking all previously issued approvals for license plate readers (LPRs) in state ‘rights-of-way,’ or the strip of land that’s next to or part of a state road. Watts cited a ‘recent exponential increase’ in deployments of law enforcement cameras, as well as ‘concerning reports of misuse, data privacy concerns, and surveillance schemes’ that he said merit immediate action ‘to preserve Floridians’ sovereignty and quality of life.'” (08/31/26)
- Could Tupac verdict inspire new efforts to find killer of his rival the Notorious B.I.G.?
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“The conviction of Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis in Las Vegas has brought an end to one of the world’s most famous unsolved murder cases. He was found guilty of the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur, who died when the black BMW he was travelling in was sprayed with bullets in a drive-by shooting in 1996. ‘This is huge. It was a tough case. It’s a cold case,’ former prosecutor Neama Rahmani told the BBC. ‘We’re talking about the greatest rapper of all time, an icon, and not a single arrest or prosecution for 30 years.’ The conviction gives closure to Shakur’s family, and has prompted questions from observers as to what it could mean for an almost identical case – the unsolved murder of Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie Smalls, also known by his legal name of Christopher Wallace.” (09/01/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdx0np90lx4o#google_vignette
- Canada: Carney’s Liberals sweep three special elections
Source: ABC News
“Canada’s Liberals swept three special elections Monday in a result that showed voters backing Prime Minister Mark Carney for standing up against U.S. President Donald Trump. The Canadian Press, Canada’s national news agency, projected Liberal victories in Chicoutimi-Le Fjord in Quebec, Beaches-East York in Toronto and North Vancouver-Capilano in British Columbia. Carney said the results amounted to an endorsement of his government’s approach. ‘At this consequential time for Canada, voters have placed their trust in our government’s plan,’ he said in a statement.” (09/01/26)
- Congo: Despite concerns from parents and teachers, schools reopen in Ebola epicenter
Source: SFGate
“A new academic year began across Congo on Tuesday despite concerns by parents and teachers that the country’s Ebola outbreak still poses risks to children in the epicenter. The resumption of classes comes in the middle of what authorities say is the fastest-growing outbreak of the disease ever, with 2,950 killed among the 6,100 cases confirmed so far since mid-May. The union representing teachers in Ituri province, the epicenter of the outbreak, had called for a delay in restarting classes, but the government pressed ahead. UNICEF said it is supporting the authorities to prevent transmissions in schools. Some schools in Ituri, especially those owned by the government, recorded low turnouts. Authorities in Ituri did not respond to a request for comment on measures to ensure a lack of transmission in classrooms.” (09/01/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/schools-resume-classes-in-congo-s-ebola-22412290.php
- FTC, states sue Amazon over alleged manipulation of advertising auctions
Source: United Press International
“A coalition of 22 states joined a Federal Trade Commission suit against Amazon alleging ‘deceptive and unfair practices,’ secretly gaming the prices advertisers ended up paying in search results auctions to appear on Amazon.com and its mobile app. The FTC, in a news release Monday, alleged that the platform ‘covertly and substantially increased’ costs for more than a million brands and sellers to advertise on its platform over a seven year period, costing them tens of billions of dollars, most of which was passed onto consumers.” (09/01/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/09/01/Amazon-faces-auction-rigging-lawsuit/3601788250689/
- Turkey pushes for new grain deal between Russia and Ukraine
Source: Yahoo! News
“Turkey is pushing for a new agreement between Russia and Ukraine concerning grain exports via the Black Sea, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told journalists in Istanbul on Monday. Fidan said that Turkey was in contact with both Kiev and Moscow on this matter. ‘We are working on a further agreement, similar to the grain deal,’ the minister explained. Such an agreement had already been in place after the war began in 2022. However, it expired in 2023.” (08/31/26)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/world/articles/turkey-pushes-grain-deal-between-163349678.html
- Jury convicts Duane “Keffe D” Davis of first-degree murder in orchestrating killing of Tupac Shakur
Source: Associated Press
“A jury has found Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis guilty of orchestrating the killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, marking the first conviction in a case that has gripped hip-hop fans for decades. The 63-year-old Davis was convicted Monday of murder with the use of a deadly weapon and could be sentenced to life in prison. The jury deliberated for 3 hours after a weekslong trial in Las Vegas. The night of his murder, Shakur was in a BMW with music mogul Marion ‘Suge’ Knight when a white Cadillac pulled up at a red light. Shakur was shot multiple times and died six days later, while Knight survived. The confrontation was rooted in a long-running feud between the Mob Piru Bloods, a gang Shakur and Knight were affiliated with, and the South Side Compton Crips, for whom Davis was a prominent leader.” (08/31/26)
https://apnews.com/live/tupac-murder-trial-duane-davis-08-31-2026
- Chinese regime whining weighs on Pacific summit
Source: Reuters
“China on Tuesday objected to Taiwan’s presence at the Pacific Islands Forum saying the democratically ruled island was not qualified to attend the summit, but Australia and New Zealand said the Pacific bloc would decide the guest list. China [pretends Taiwan is] its own territory, and tensions between both have featured prominently at the annual meeting of the 18-member group that counts Australia, New Zealand and Pacific island nations as members. … China’s special envoy for Pacific island affairs Qian Bo said on Monday that Taiwan’s presence would have consequences — without specifying what they would be.” (08/31/26)
- Army Secretary submits resignation after tensions with Pete Hegseth
Source: NBC News
“Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is expected to step down in the coming days after the White House accepted his resignation, according to a person familiar with the matter and a White House official. NBC News reported last week that Driscoll had told close associates that he wanted to leave the administration by Labor Day. Driscoll visited the White House last week to discuss his future, according to three U.S. officials, but it wasn’t clear what came of the meeting. … Driscoll is the latest high-profile official at the Defense Department to depart; Navy Secretary John Phelan and the Army chief of staff, Gen. Randy George, were pushed out this spring. … Driscoll had differed over a number of issues with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who removed George, Phelan and other high-ranking Pentagon officials. He has also blocked the promotions of several senior Army officers.” (08/31/26)
- SCOTUS rules White House ballroom construction may proceed
Source: The Hill
“The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on Monday that construction of the White House ballroom can continue, lifting a block on above-ground work as President Trump asserts the project is necessary for national security. It halts a lower court ruling that would’ve restricted construction until Congress provided additional approvals. Five of the court’s conservative [sic] justices, including all three of Trump’s appointees — Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — sided with the president. They ruled a preservationist group likely has no right to sue over one of its members’ concerns about the project. Chief Justice John Roberts joined the court’s three liberal [sic] justices in dissent.” (08/21/26)
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/6061878-trump-wins-ballroom-construction-lawsuit/
- Report: Pentagon covertly puts conservative military influencers into regime positions
Source: Jerusalem Post [Jerusalem]
“Senior US military influencers were discreetly placed in government positions as part of a covert Pentagon operation, The Washington Post reported on Monday, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter and corroborating material. According to the report, the influencers in question have worked to push against criticism of the Trump administration while advancing the positions of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, being assigned as ‘special government employees (SGE)’ or ‘highly qualified experts (HQE).’ The report noted that HQEs are permitted to work either part-time or full-time with no compensation limitations, whereas SGEs may work up to 130 days per year. The sources, which named two of the influencers as US Air Force Col. (ret.) Rob Maness and US Army Col. (ret.) Kurt Schlichter, told the Washington Post that several of the veterans are in positions powerful enough to potentially influence policy changes.” (08/31/26)
- Congo: Regime reports more than 6,000 confirmed Ebola cases and nearly 3,000 deaths
Source: New Haven Register
“Congo’s authorities said Monday that the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history has topped 6,000 cases with 2,911 deaths. More than 1,360 people have recovered from the virus, in what authorities said was an ‘encouraging’ development. The outbreak in eastern Congo is spreading under extremely difficult conditions, fueled by insecurity, displacement, a health workers’ strike and intense population movements. The situation is particularly concerning at displacement sites, where residents already live in extremely precarious conditions. Last week, the virus spilled into two new health zones in the region. The World Health Organization has said that it remains out of control and is on track to surpass the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak, the deadliest on record, which killed more than 11,000 people, primarily in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.” (08/31/26)
https://www.nhregister.com/news/world/article/congo-authorities-report-more-than-6-000-22410629.php
- House Republicans Launch Investigation Into DEA Tactic That Allowed [sic] Fentanyl to Hit Streets
Source: US News & World Report
“Republicans on the House Oversight Committee have launched an investigation into a controversial policing tactic that permitted staggering amounts of deadly fentanyl to reach the streets as federal authorities sought to build bigger drug cases. The committee’s chairman, Rep. James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, sent a letter Monday to Attorney General Todd Blanche requesting records related to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s controversial strategy of monitoring — yet not seizing — major fentanyl shipments. The request echoes concerns raised by officials in New Mexico, the epicenter of the fentanyl crisis and where DEA whistleblowers recently reported being ordered to stand down rather than seize hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills in possible violation of Justice Department rules intended to safeguard communities.” [editor’s note: In the war on drugs, drugs will always win. That war created the demand for fentanyl, and there’s no way it, or duplicate shipments, wouldn’t have “reached the streets” – TLK] (08/31/26)
- Japan: Defense Ministry requests record $55.6 billion to fund “new ways of fighting”
Source: Stars and Stripes [US state media]
“Japan’s Defense Ministry on Monday asked for a record-high 8.9 trillion yen for the coming fiscal year, about $55.6 billion, with the cost of about 100 items left blank. The proposed spending plan — the 15th consecutive increase in as many years — seeks an outlay for ‘new ways of fighting,’ including artificial intelligence, unmanned vehicles and further spending on standoff missiles. The request focuses on three main pillars of Japan’s deterrence and response capabilities for the coming fiscal year, which begins in April. Along with AI, unmanned systems and missiles, the budget aims to build sustained response capabilities for prolonged conflicts and a stronger base for defense equipment acquisition and support.” (08/31/26)
https://www.stripes.com/theaters/asia_pacific/2026-08-31/japan-defense-budget-request-22687506.html
- Experts, lawyers puzzled over US-Venezuela oil deal, call for contract transparency
Source: Reuters
“A massive long-term oil deal expected to grant the U.S. access to a fifth of Venezuela’s crude reserves has energy experts and lawyers questioning its legality and eventual execution, while calling on both governments for contract transparency. The unprecedented pact, announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday and confirmed by Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez, will put a whopping 65 billion barrels of recoverable oil under Washington’s control, a volume that surpasses total U.S. proved oil reserves of 46 billion barrels. The agreement did not pass through a competitive process, and its negotiation remained a secret until last week, even amid a sweeping reform of Venezuela’s primary hydrocarbons law and the migration of dozens of joint ventures and contracts to new terms, which authorities and operators have not completed.” (08/31/26)
- CMS takes another step toward higher-value, lower-cost outpatient care
Source: Niskanen Center
by Caitlin Rowley Gallamore & Lawson Mansell“The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is taking the next step to reduce Medicare’s unnecessary spending in high-cost hospital settings. Medicare’s payment policies have profound impacts on the supply of healthcare — where, when, and how services are provided to patients across the country. Existing payment policies disconnect the value of healthcare services from their costs. And because much of the healthcare system uses Medicare prices as a baseline for payment, the ripple effects of these distortions spread far beyond into the private market as well.” (09/01/26)
- Treading on the Market
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Ninos P Malek“On August 17, the California Energy Commission (CEC) approved the nation’s first energy-efficiency standards for replacement tires. Beginning in 2029, replacement tires sold for passenger vehicles and light-duty trucks in California will have to meet minimum standards for ‘rolling resistance’—the force that resists a tire as it rolls along the road. … The CEC estimates that under the first phase of the regulation, a set of four tires will cost consumers about $6 more while saving the average driver approximately $85 in fuel costs over the life of the tires. … Assuming those estimates are accurate, most people would probably say, ‘Sounds like a pretty good deal.’ But that raises an obvious economic question: If these tires are such a good deal for consumers, why does the government need to force people to buy them?” (09/01/26)
- Eye of the Beholder: Aesthetic Injury and the White House Ballroom
Source: Jonathan Turley
by Jonathan Turley“The Administration won a major victory before the Supreme Court this week, securing a 5-4 decision allowing the resumption of construction of the new White House ballroom. Notably, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote a dissent with his three liberal colleagues to oppose the move. The case turns on the standing of challengers to bring the case. However, as a torts professor, what intrigued me was what the case says about aesthetic injuries. In torts, I teach aesthetic nuisance cases where courts tend to reject claims of injury due to eyesores and blight. Such claims are disfavored in both codes and cases: ‘Things merely disagreeable, however, which simply displease the eye or offend the taste, or shock an oversensitive or fastidious nature, no matter how irritating or unpleasant, are not nuisances’. [81 N.Y. Jur. 2d Nuisances § 17 (2014)].” (09/01/26)
- Human Rights in the Post-Pandemic Era
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Michael Tomlinson“In 2020, governments around the world panicked in response to the declaration of a pandemic and imposed drastic interventions to impede the spread of Covid-19, interventions which crushed human rights on an unprecedented scale and without sufficient justification. Yet this was widely accepted, even by human rights organisations. How could this happen? And how could we amend human rights protections to ensure that it does not happen again?” (09/01/260
https://brownstone.org/articles/human-rights-in-the-post-pandemic-era/
- The NIMBY Prisoner’s Dilemma
Source: Law & Liberty
by Michael C Munger“American infrastructure is paralyzed by local communities looking out for their short-term interests.” (09/01/26)
- Independent Thinking Can’t Be Force-Fed
Source: The Daily Economy
by Laura Williams“The new book ‘Unconventional Education and America’s Founding’ traces the pluralistic, self-led educations that prepared colonial learners to remake the world.” (09/01/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/independent-thinking-cant-be-force-fed/
- World War II, the “No Good” War
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Jim Bovard“September 1 is the anniversary of the start of World War II in Europe. On that date in 1939, Nazi Germany launched an invasion of Poland from the west and a few weeks later, the Soviet Union invaded from the east. Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin signed a non-aggression pact shortly before they carved up Poland but that ceasefire didn’t last beyond June 1941. World War II has been heralded for more than fifty years as the ‘Good War’—in contrast to subsequent U.S. military debacles in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran. But World War II cannot be glorified without hiding a heap of lies and millions of corpses.” (09/01/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/world-war-ii-the-no-good-war
- The Hard-Won Lessons of Cold War Liberalism
Source: Liberalism.org
by Joshua L Cherniss“Twentieth-century liberal intellectuals stood firm against the totalizing ideologies of left and right. Their insights remain valuable today.” (08/31/26)
https://www.liberalism.org/p/the-hard-won-lessons-of-cold-war-liberalism
- How You’re Paying for All These Flock Cameras
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen“As Donald Trump engages in the bold midterm election strategy of telling 75 percent of the country that they will be ‘backwards and poor’ if they refuse to allow substantial portions of land to be handed over to data centers, he’s one expression of transpartisan outrage behind. Anger is building just as persistently about Flock cameras, the automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) powered by artificial intelligence and the data centers that make AI run, which are used increasingly by law enforcement to surveil and track citizens, often improperly. ‘This is a deeply un-American thing that is being done,’ said Will Lawrence, the congressional candidate in Michigan who has been well ahead of the political class on identifying and acting on technology products that inflame local communities, from data centers to Flock. ” (09/01/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/09/01/how-youre-paying-for-all-these-flock-cameras/
- Pete Hegseth: Militarism’s Ideologue
Source: Antiwar.com
by Nolan Denaro“Reality doesn’t always line up with our wishes. For Pete Hegseth, this lesson has been learned the hard way. Six months into his war with Iran, top military officials are warning the Secretary of Defense that prolonged fighting would be ‘unsustainable,’ according to new reporting from The Washington Post. These officials are echoing sentiments that have been repeated for months within the administration. Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had advised the White House before the conflict that a large-scale military confrontation with Iran posed serious risks, particularly because of the U.S.’ depleted munitions stockpiles and a lack of support from regional partners. Rather than heed these warnings, Washington foreign policy elites chose to proceed with a reckless disregard for the facts, guided by an ideological drive to reshape the world in our image – or, perhaps more accurately, Israel’s.” (09/01/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/nolan_denaro/2026/08/31/pete-hegseth-militarisms-ideologue/
- What the Deportation of Milo Yiannopoulos Tells Us About the State of MAGA
Source: Mother Jones
by Anna Merlan“Before last week, Milo Yiannopoulos was one of the most noxious, divisive, and broadly unpopular far-right figures in the country, having whittled down his allies in the movement over the past decade with a combination of exuberant misogyny and bigotry, catty infighting, an infamous moment of pedophilia apologism, and increasingly pointed criticism of Donald Trump. Now, he’ll have to settle for being a broadly divisive and unpopular figure in the UK, having been swiftly and very publicly deported …. while Yiannopoulos’ deportation contains an extremely rich vein of schadenfreude—he previously called for deporting ‘millions and millions of people’ and joked about masturbating while witnessing ICE raids—it’s also indicative of how power, punishment, and influence currently work in the MAGA movement, and broader crackup within that feud-heavy world, where fragile alliances are constantly being made, broken and remade anew.” (08/31/26)
- Trump’s “golden age of science” is not just another war to be won
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Pavel Devyatkin & Denis Simon“Let’s get off the battlefield and into the laboratory — this should be one arena where great power competition can be kept in its place.” (09/01/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/us-china-scientific-competition/
- A Nothing Burger
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Joel Salatin“People are emailing right and left about this proposed Executive Order from President Trump giving farmers and ranchers the right to process their animals on their own properties for their consumption. Duh, that is already legal. What is NOT legal is doing this and SELLING the meat. Be assured that this whole thing has been conceived as an olive branch after the 300,000 metric ton below-market (subsidized?) tariff-free import of ground beef product (what’s with the ‘product?’) for 90 days, coinciding with the midterm elections. It’s not just about red tape. It’s about rights. Secretary Rollins doesn’t seem to understand this either.” (09/01/26)
- The “Red-Green” Distraction
Source: The American Conservative
by Jason Jones“I recently wrote about a new elite strategy of peppering us with anti-Arab, anti-Muslim propaganda ahead of the 2026 elections. Since then, we’ve also started to hear quite a lot about a sinister ‘red-green’ coalition—red for communists, green for Islamists—threatening the very existence of our republic. The propagandists making this pitch employ astonishingly broad definitions …. It should be clear to all of us, of course, that this new ‘red-green’ canard is not a native-grown, conservative defense of our constitutional order from outside enemies. On the contrary, it’s nothing less than an attempt by our ruling class to force our own coalition to dismantle itself—less than two years after we handily won the 2024 election.” (09/01/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-red-green-distraction/
- Progressive Regression and the New Medievalism
Source: American Greatness
by Victor Davis Hanson“For most people, the story of the medieval world was one of cramped cities, constant violent crime, and episodic outbreaks of deadly plagues—the dividends of unclean urban conditions, rotting food, fouled water, open sewage, and unchecked rats, fleas, and lice. Most of each day was spent simply trying to survive until the next. Castles and walls dotted the landscape to protect kingdoms from marauding tribes and foreign invaders. City gates were usually closed at dusk to keep out nocturnal marauders. Public executions drew massive crowds. And religious schisms and conflicts often turned deadly. In other words, it was not altogether unfamiliar to the world we are becoming today. Yet meanwhile, science advanced quietly among true elites at universities, courts, and monasteries, producing windmills, mechanical clocks, and eyeglasses.” (09/01/26)
https://amgreatness.com/2026/09/01/progressive-regression-and-the-new-medievalism/
- Trump’s Hatred of Free Speech Is Intensifying
Source: The Atlantic
by David A Graham“Desensitization is one of Donald Trump’s most powerful tools: Through repetition, he acclimates Americans to troubling and dangerous ideas. Occasionally, though, his statements and actions are so outrageous that they can still provide a shock. The president’s hostility toward the media is familiar, but this weekend provided a clear reminder that Trump hates freedom of the press and will use any government power at his disposal to try to get rid of it.” (08/31/26)
- The Ethical Foundations of the Just War Doctrine
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Wanjiru Njoya“In the Ethics of Liberty, Murray Rothbard argued that aggressive war is always immoral and must always be opposed. The just war doctrine should be understood not as a moral toolkit that can be harnessed to justify aggressive war, but, on the contrary, as an exception to the foundational anti-war principle. This means that the just war exception should never become more important than the anti-war rule. Unfortunately, many now treat the just war doctrine as a presumption that launching war is morally upstanding so long as a ‘just cause’ can be found to rationalize it.” (09/01/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/ethical-foundations-just-war-doctrine
- Liberalism is a Habit Not a Principle
Source: Persuasion
by Joey T McFadden“On December 13, 1790, just one week after Philadelphia became the U.S. capital, President Washington wrote to several Hebrew congregations across the fledgling nation to respond to the congratulations they sent him for his inauguration as president. Washington opened the letter by invoking a word that today is almost lost to history. He praised the congregations for their ‘liberality of sentiment’ concerning religious tolerance, arguing that ‘the affection of such people is a treasure beyond the reach of calculation.’ The virtue Washington identified—’liberality’—is the progenitor of modern political liberalism. To understand why Washington held this ideal in such high regard, we must return to the ancient Romans who inspired him, and follow the history of liberality from antiquity to the present. In this ancient virtue lies the seeds of modern political liberalism—and quite possibly an antidote to the crisis of meaning that plagues liberalism today.” (08/31/26)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/liberalism-is-a-habit-not-a-principle
- Trump Is a Plague on Latin America
Source: Common Dreams
by Medea Benjamin & Nicolas JS Davies“Simon Bolivar, the great liberator of South America, famously observed, ‘The United States appear(s) to be destined by Providence to plague America with misery in the name of liberty’. For 200 years, US leaders have never proved him wrong. In the early 1800s, Bolivar led what is now Venezuela and five other countries to independence from the Spanish Empire. But the United States still refuses to recognize the independence of other countries in the region. Wannabe emperor Donald Trump even refers to Canadian prime minister Mark Carney as a ‘governor’, as if Canada was merely another US state. The US-backed despots replacing popular democratic and socialist governments across Latin America today are indeed doing so in the name of liberty, as Bolivar warned.” (09/01/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/latin-american-policy-under-trump
- A Modest Proposal for Capitol Hill
Source: Independent Institute
by Craig Eyermann“Once upon a time, New York Tribune editor Horace Greeley dispensed some memorable advice to a young correspondent seeking advice on how to become successful: ‘So many people ask me what they shall do; so few tell me what they can do. Yet this is the pivot wherein all must turn. I believe that each of us who has his place to make should go where men are wanted, and where employment is not bestowed as alms. Of course, I say to all who are in want of work, Go West!’ … What’s the modern-day equivalent? It might not be as aspirational as Greeley’s advice, but here it is: ‘Want to be a millionaire? Don’t start a business. Run for Congress!'” (08/31/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/08/31/life-coaching-politicians/
- Trump’s Iran War Has Succeeded on No Stated Count and Failed on Many Unstated Ones
Source: The UnPopulist
by Steve Chapman“In America’s recent experience, the first six months of a war are the best ones. Six months after the invasion of Iraq, the U.S. was setting up a provisional government in Baghdad and hunting down Saddam Hussein. Six months after the invasion of Afghanistan, with the Taliban shattered and Osama bin Laden on the run, combat was winding down. Six months after the 1991 Gulf War, U.S. troops had withdrawn, victorious, from Iraq. Even the Vietnam War looked eminently winnable six months after U.S. Marines landed at Da Nang. But the war with Iran is different. … [Donald Trump] began the war, egged on by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, assuming it would be a simple duplicate of the U.S. strike that toppled Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and installed a puppet government in Caracas. But the Iranian regime is a far more formidable adversary.” (08/31/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/trumps-iran-war-has-succeeded-on
- The multifaceted stupidity of Trump’s Canadian trade war
Source: Washington Post
by Ramesh Ponnuru“The editors of the Wall Street Journal continue to describe President Donald Trump’s campaign against Canada as ‘the dumbest trade war in history,’ but there’s stiff competition for that title. Americans are still paying a 25 percent tax on imported light trucks in retaliation for European taxes on our chickens in the 1960s. The stupidity of Trump’s recent escalation is certainly impressive, though, and it contains as many layers as a Canuck walking to Tim Hortons in January. Consider these six.” (08/31/26)
- My Libertarian Solution for the $40 Trillion Federal Debt
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger“Why save and reform immoral, dysfunctional, and destructive systems that have obviously failed to achieve their purported ends and, in the process, have served to destroy the liberty of the American people? The question is especially pertinent to libertarians, given that genuine libertarianism is about freedom, not attaining some sort of warmed-over, improved serfdom. Here is my libertarian solution to the massive amount of federal spending that undergirds the federal government’s rapidly growing $40 trillion debt that now hangs over the American people like a sword of Damocles …” (08/31/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/08/31/my-libertarian-solution-for-the-40-trillion-federal-debt/
- Trump’s Broken Deals Make Foreign Policy Difficult
Source: The American Conservative
by Ted Snider“Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney took to the airwaves on August 22 to explain in a speech and Q&A why he walked away from trade negotiations with the United States and thereby opened Canada to economy-crushing tariffs from the country once considered its closest friend. … the U.S., at the last minute, had rewritten items already agreed to: ‘The U.S. proposed new terms that were uneconomic, unfair, and undermined the net benefits to Canada.’ That, he said, called into question ‘the reliability of any deal.’ The Trump administration’s unreliability, the prime minister explained, was not a new problem or one likely to go away soon. … Other U.S. partners, namely Saudi Arabia and Ukraine, have made similar complaints in recent weeks. … Though Trump boasts of the art of the deal, there is a historical pattern that suggests, instead, the art of the broken deal.” (08/31/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/trumps-broken-deals-make-foreign-policy-difficult/
- Anthropic Win Reaffirms Private Sector’s Right To Put Conditions on Government Dealings
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille“In a court victory the Trump administration effectively handed to the plaintiff, a federal judge cited First Amendment concerns in slapping down the federal government’s designation of AI company Anthropic as a ‘supply chain risk to national security.’ The company also won a due process claim. President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth made clear their intent to punish the company for its ethical limitations on how its technology can be used when they banned federal agencies and contractors from doing business with Anthropic. The White House has been reminded that government officials can’t do that in the U.S.” (08/31/26)
- Anti-Tribute to Milo Yiannopoulos
Source: Town Hall
by Arthur Schaper“Milo Yiannopoulos, the Gamergate reporter who exposed the Left’s attempt to push feminism, LGBT and diversity into gaming; the Breitbart enfant terrible who called himself a ‘virtuous troll’ among corporate media types; the bête noire of campus lecturers, the jokester who mocked the wokesters before becoming a woke joke himself; the gay ‘conservative’ who became a straight far-right (?) influencer; the celebrity-turned-obscurity who turned everyone off, the wannabe podcaster who grifted where he could; the flimsy buddy to white nationalists who betrayed them when their association stopped paying the bills; Kanye West’s former PR guy who failed at his own PR, the guy who was ‘super-hot back in 2015, 2016 and… kind of disappeared’ according to Ben Shapiro; the male version of Sue Mengers, bad taste but lacking class, connections, common decency, or relevance; and a chief cheerleader for deporting all illegal aliens (and the above-mentioned Shapiro, disturbingly enough), has been deported.” (08/31/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/arthurschaper/2026/08/31/anti-tribute-to-milo-yiannopoulos-n2682147
- The Molecule at the End of Politics
Source: Underthrow
by Max Politics“Administered in responsible therapeutic settings, entheogens could be a path to reckoning with the profound changes ahead. Indeed, when we realize that personality is one of the strongest determinants of cultural values, we might conclude that psychedelics could be yet another technology for the coming era—whether in preparing for or catalyzing it. We needn’t belabor this idea, though. The point is that it will be important to open our minds, consider new perspectives, and embrace new values even if it means going against the grain a little.” (08/31/26)
https://underthrow.substack.com/p/the-molecule-at-the-end-of-politics
- Trump Has Peaked
Source: Foreign Policy
by Ravi Agrawal“The president himself will remain a disruptive—and potentially destructive—presence on the world stage. He still has more than two years left in office and powerful economic tools to wield as cudgels against allies and adversaries alike. Yet countries and companies will learn that he has peaked. His coercive capacity, so potent last year, seems lessened from overuse. This realization will alter the very nature of Trump’s power—and the discussions about a world order to come.” (08/31/26)
- Why Higher Education Is Likely Doomed
Source: American Greatness
by Stephen Soukup“On the one side, conservatives are frustrated because, to them, the Arday case is emblematic: universities today are overwhelmingly leftist; leftists dominate the humanities and liberal arts faculties, and leftists are rewarded for poor or even fraudulent scholarship simply because it reinforces the preexisting beliefs of their contemporaries and superiors. On the other side, progressives and other leftists insist that the pursuit of knowledge and enlightenment is definitionally a left-leaning enterprise, at least in contemporary society. Of course, leftists are overrepresented in academia; leftists seek awareness and understanding, while conservatives are simply less inquisitive and less interested in attaining knowledge, both temperamentally and practically, the latter for fear of learning that what they perceive as fairness and equality is, in reality, prejudice and discrimination.” (08/31/26)
https://amgreatness.com/2026/08/31/why-higher-education-is-likely-doomed/
- Beware of Starship Captains Who Bear Gift Cards
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Sofia Karstens“You already know the ads. They appear each fall, a sign of the season as familiar as apple cider donuts and the changing of the leaves. A former quarterback or an actor from a venerable TV show looks straight in the camera and says, warmly: you may be entitled to benefits you aren’t getting today: dental, vision, a card for groceries, a ride to your doctor. Seniors at home just have to call the number on the screen to sign up for a Medicare Advantage plan today. Operators are standing by. They certainly are, but their primary aim isn’t to find the best plan for their caller’s needs. It’s to get them to sign up for the plan that’s most profitable for them.” (08/31/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/beware-of-starship-captains-who-bear-gift-cards/
- High Agency is High Variance
Source: Bet On It
by Bryan Caplan“Cate Hall’s You Can Just Do Things: How High-Agency People Get What They Want Out of Life sounds like a book designed to tell me what I want to hear. I’ve long believed in: 1. Literal free will. … 2. Widespread overestimation of constraints relative to preferences. … 3. Most humans are deeply conformist. … Nevertheless, reading Hall’s book starkly reminded me of the dangers of high agency.” (08/31/26)
- Clyburn Calls for Packing the Court with “Baker’s Dozen” to Flip Cases
Source: Jonathan Turley
by Jonathan Turley“On NBC’s ‘Meet the Press,’ Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) added his voice to expand the Supreme Court to a ‘baker’s dozen’, or thirteen members to allow Democrats to add justices who agree with him and Democratic members on how the law must be interpreted. In the meantime, as discussed earlier, court packing is being pushed as the new litmus test for any Democratic candidates. Clyburn’s ‘baker’s dozen’ is a telling description of an effort to bake in partisan views on a Court expanded to create an instant liberal majority. In defending this hostile takeover of the Court, Clyburn bizarrely insisted that the failure to do so might lead to a return to antebellum conditions when blacks were being given fewer rights than whites.” (08/31/26)
- The Belated Backlash Against Flock Cameras
Source: Reason
by Jacob Sullum“Americans are starting to recognize the dangers of pervasive surveillance by automated license plate readers.” (08/31/26)
https://reason.com/2026/08/31/the-belated-backlash-against-flock-cameras/
- Flock cameras are un-American. I’m glad folks are fighting back.
Source: USA Today
by Nicole Russell“What do Darth Vader, the ACLU and some Democrats and Republicans have in common? They hate Flock cameras. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, is launching an investigation into Flock Safety, demanding answers about how the company retains data and tracks vehicles. Politicians aren’t the only ones worried. The AI-powered surveillance cameras track, scan and preserve license plate numbers, feeding them into a searchable database that law enforcement and others can access. Citizens in blue and red states alike are protesting cameras that were installed to make them safer. I’d expect pushback from Republicans, who tend to be wary about anything resembling a surveillance state. I’m more surprised by the resistance from the left.” [editor’s note: Republicans, for the most part, seem to LOVE the surveillance state these days – TLK] (08/31/26)
- Trump Puffs Up Engagement With North Korea, But Can We Trust Him?
Source: Libertarian Institute
by José Niño“Count the decades. Seventy-five years of confrontation, and Washington cannot point to a single durable peace agreement with North Korea. Diplomacy alone will not close that gap. The United States must pursue the only strategy that has never been tried, a full withdrawal from the Korean peninsula and the complete repeal of every sanction it has imposed on the North. The Cold War is finished. North Korea poses no threat to Americans. The Pacific Ocean serves as a moat no army has ever crossed, and the American nuclear stockpile outmatches Pyongyang’s many times over. The idea that North Korea threatens the American mainland is risible. Let the sleeping dog lie and let a new era of peace begin.” (08/31/26)
- Law & Liberty Podcast, 09/01/26
Source: Law & Liberty
“Fusionism’s First Principles — with Stephanie Slade, hosted by James M. Patterson.” (09/01/26)
- The Bryan Hyde Show, 09/01/26
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
“I’m joined today by Eric Peters from Eric Peters Autos for a rollicking discussion of the madness that has seized the American political class.” (09/01/16)
- Advisory Opinions, 09/01/26
Source: The Dispatch
“Has the First Amendment Ever Been More Relevant?” (09/01/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/advisoryopinions/has-the-first-amendment-ever-been-more-relevant/
- AI, Culture, and the Italian Renaissance
Source: Cobden Centre
“In this talk I [Max Rangeley] go through what we can learn from various Italian princes for the age of AI. Will we enter a new age of polymaths, science and beautiful architecture? Or will AI slop overwhelm civilization and be the final ghastly episode of modern brain rot?” (09/01/26)
https://www.cobdencentre.org/2026/09/speech-in-florence-on-ai-culture-and-the-italian-renaissance/
- Jim Webb on The Kyle Anzalone Show
Source: Libertarian Institute
“The fastest way to lose a war is to start one without an end state, and that’s the thread we pull from start to finish with Jim Webb.” (08/31/26)
- Fountainhead Forum, episode 481
Source: Fountainhead Forum
“Aimee Terese on Lindsay Clancy and her trial.” (08/31/26)
https://rumble.com/v7exbow-ff-481-aimee-terese-on-lindsay-clancy-and-her-trial.html?e9s
- The Kyle Anzalone Show, 09/01/26
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Trump Declares Total Economic War Against Iran! Will It Work?'” (09/01/26)
- Film, Literature and the New World Order, 09/01/26
Source: The Corbett Report
“Philip K. Dick’s The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch.” (09/01/26)
https://corbettreport.com/philip-k-dicks-the-three-stigmata-of-palmer-eldritch/
- Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 08/31/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“Trump Considers Hormuz Bombing Campaign, Netanyahu Boasts of Convincing US To Launch War, and More.” (08/31/26)
- Reason Roundtable, 08/31/26
Source: Reason
“Trump Wants the FCC To Punish His Enemies.” (08/31/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/08/31/trump-wants-the-fcc-to-punish-his-enemies/
- Sal and Mark, episode 18
Source: Free Talk Live
“Vin Armani joins from Saipan, what Mark calls the freest place in America, to talk about life on this unique piece of American soil, what it actually looks like to raise a family outside the reach of the American mind virus, and his new book The Vineyard and the Vessel: Leadership at the End of the Empire. The guys also cover Florida’s new stable coin laws and the agorist workarounds, the ongoing persecution of Roman Storm and the Samurai Wallet developers by Trump’s DOJ, the Flock camera resistance movement including a journalist who got banned from Flock’s convention and set up a drone and surveillance operation outside, and the explosive discovery that a Minnesota Senator is on Flock’s payroll.” (08/31/26)
- Trump Censorship Machine Bashed in Federal Court
Source: JimBovard.com
Jim Bovard on the Trump censorship-by-deportation scheme. (08/31/26)
https://jimbovard.com/blog/2026/08/31/video-on-trump-censorship-machine-bashed-in-federal-court/
- Ron Paul Liberty Report, 08/31/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“This Is Where We Are? Kidnapping Foreign Leaders & Trying To Take Their Oil.” (08/31/26)
- Rising, 08/31/26
Source: The Hill
“Robby Soave gives his radar on Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed repeatedly downplaying his association with leftist streamer Hasan Piker.” (08/31/26)
- The Brian Nichols Show, 08/31/26
Source: Lions of Liberty
“2028 Poll Shocker, Lindsay Clancy Backlash, AI Job Panic.” (08/31/26)
- The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg, 08/31/26
Source: The Dispatch
“Zombies Need Air Conditioning, Too | Interview: Thomas Chatterton Williams.” (08/31/26)
- EconTalk, 08/31/26
Source: EconTalk
“Hamas and the Future of Gaza (with Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib).” (08/31/26)
https://www.econtalk.org/hamas-and-the-future-of-gaza-with-ahmed-fouad-alkhatib/
- Politico Playbook Audio Briefing, 08/31/26
Source: Politico
“Bernie Sanders on what’s next for Democrats.” (08/31/26)
- Pink Flame of Liberty, 08/30/26
Source: Pink Flame of Liberty
“Fractures in the Country, Fractures in the Democrats.” (08/30/26)
- Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 08/30/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“US Bombs Iran’s Larak Island, US and Venezuela Oil Deal, Israel Kills 3-Year-Old in Gaza, and More.” (08/30/26)